0 - Eureka Street

Lucy Turner
Guatemala's unforgiven
As the government apologises to victims' families for state-sanctioned atrocities during the civil war,
the perpetrators remain free
BY BAM oN a
AuGu" 2005, the
Sacapulas Municipal Hall is filled with
residents of surrounding villages, dressed
in traditional traje and speaking quietly
in Qu iche, the local indigenous language.
Representatives of the Guatemalan government,
weary from the five- hour drive
to the sma ll highland town, and looking
uncomfortable in their stiff suits, begin to
take their seats on the stage. Despite the
heat and the crowd, in the early light the
hall has the reverent hush of a chapel.
Domingo, Agustin and Ju an sit silently
in the first row, their faces revealing a sadness
which the events about to take place
will do little to ease. They are preparing to
hear government officials publicly accept
state responsibility for the 1990 murder
of their m other, Maria Mejia, a respected
community leader and outspoken critic
of the arm y. They will offer formal apologies,
and seek her family's forgiveness.
The banner su spended above the officials'
heads, bearing a photo of Maria
and printed with stark black lettering,
expresses succinctly the response they
can expect: No hay perd6n sin justicia­
No forgiveness without justice.
Fifteen years after her brut a 1 assassination
in front of her husband and children
by members of the military who still live
in their village, no investiga tions have
taken place, no one has been charged, and
the case remains, like thousands like it,
in absolute impunity.
Guatemala is still coming to terms
with peace a decade after a 36-year civil
war ended with the signing of peace
accords. Among the challenges it faces
is how to address the profound dam age
caused by decades of conflict and state
repression, which included atrocities such
as the massacre of hundreds of indigenous
villages, tens of thousands of 'disappearances'
and widespread torture.
As in other countries undergoing
post-conflict transitions, Guatemala
established a truth commission as part
of its reconciliation process. In 1999, the
H istorical Clarification Commission
(CEH, for its initials in Spanish) published
its report, Guatemala-Memory of
Silence, which concluded that the civil
war had claimed more than 200,000
victims, 83 per cent of whom were
indigenous Mayans. The report found that
the state was responsible for 93 per cent of
the human rights violations committed,
which included genocide.
The CEH 's recommendations, in
addition to stressing the importance of
the peace accords, sought to specifically
address victims' needs. These recommendations
included m easures for dignifying
the memory of victims, a wide-rangi ng
reparations program, and, importantly,
justice.
0
VER THE PAST S I X YEARS Guatemalan
governments have implemented some
of these recommendations, most notably
via the creation of a N ational Reparation
Program, which includes material restitution
(such as building roads), economic
compensation, psychological rehabilitation,
and measures to dignify victim s
(such as monuments and the renaming
of buildings). Little has been done, however,
to bring those responsible for human
rights crimes to justice.
In contrast to other societies undergoing
post-conflict tran sitions, Guatemala
did not pass sweeping amnesty laws as
part of its reconciliation process.
The 1996 National Reconciliation Law,
which provides for the limited exemption
of responsibility in some cases, specifically
excludes crimes against humanity-in particular
genocide, forced disappearance and
torture-committed during the internal
armed conflict. The CEH recommended
that those responsible for such crimes be
prosecuted, tried and punished.
This means there is no legal barrier to
proceeding against human rights violators.
On the contrary, the government has strong
political,lega land moral obligations to bring
those responsible to justice. Politically, it
committed itself to fight impunity in the
Global Agreement on Human Rights, one
of the principal peace accords signed in
1994. In addition, the nation's constitution
and a range of international human rights
treaties impose a legal duty to investigate,
try, and punish human rights violators.
The moral imperative is confirmed by
the proliferation of victims' organisations
since the signing of the peace accords and
their persistent demand that justice is the
only path to real reconciliation.
Despite this, impun ity remains a fact
for almost 100 per cent of human rights
abuses committed during Guatemala's
civil war.
There are many reasons for this,
the primary one being a lack of political
will: the political spectrum remain s
dominated by right-wing parties whose
m embers and supporters among the armed
forces m ight well be the focus of criminal
investiga tions.
Lack of political will is compounded
by the systemic weaknesses of the justice
system. The institutions responsible
for carrying out criminal investigations
arc under-resourced, staffed by inadequately
trained and inadequately experienced
personnel, and show little interest
in initiating the investigations as they are
required to do by law. The court system
is renowned for its inefficiency, inconsistency
a nd corruption.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Defense
is unco-operative with criminal investigations
indicating military involvement
in human rights crimes. It has classified
much of the information held by the armed
forces as 'state secrets', in order to prevent
its release. When cases do come to trial,
the army defends its own by paying lawyers
who employ obstructionist legal tactics
aimed at delaying proceedings and
exhausting victims' resolve.
In light of these obstacles, only a handful
of cases have been adequately investigated
and tried, and even fewer have resulted in
appropriate sanctions being imposed. These
18 EUREKA STREET NOVEMBER- DECEMBER 2005